Parking meter



Jan. 21, 1964 Filed March 7, 1962 R. B. WHITE PARKING METER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.|

RNEYS Jan. 21, 1964 R. B. WHITE 3,113,597

PARKING METER Filed March 7, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet' 2 United States Patent O 3,118,597 PARKING METER Roby Byron White, lumber-land, RL, assignor to Electronic Coin Processing Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Mar. 7, 1962, Ser. No. 178,071 Claims. (Cl. 232-1) This invention relates to the handling of coins and more particularly comprises a new and improved parking meter and a manner of removing coins from its coin chamber.

One important object of this invention is to provide a parking meter which is virtually pilfer-proof, relatively inexpensive to manufacture, and which operates easily and dependably.

The almost universal adoption by cities and towns of parking meters has created a demand for a device which prevents unauthorized access to the coin boxes of meters and which may be operated easily and dependably to permit authorized access so that periodic collection may be made easily and quickly. In my copending application Serial No. 798,264, filed March 9, 1959, entitled Coin Handling Machine, a vehicle is shown housing equipment for sorting, proving, and counting coins and which includes a conveying mechanism to transfer coins from parking meters to the vehicle without even the operator having actual access to the coins at least until the coins have been counted. The apparatus of the present invention is particularly suited for use with such systems wherein the conveying mechanism is first secured to the parking meter and only thereafter is the parking meter opened to allow coins in its coin chamber to pass into the mechanism.

The parking meter of this invention includes among its features a head which houses the coin chamber and which is adapted to receive a hod into which coins are to be deposited from the chamber. A door is provided on the chamber which itself is covered by the hood when the hood is mounted on the meter head, Means are disposed in the chamber that are actuated through a signal carrier formed in part by the hood, which first unlocks the door of the chamber and then opens it to allow the coins in the chamber to pass into the hood. The coin chamber of the meter can only be opened when the hood covers the meter head, which itself acts as a shield to prevent someone from reaching into the chamber and removing the coins.

These and other objects and features of this invention will be better understood and appreciated from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a pictorial showing of a parking meter which may incorporate the eatures of my invention and further suggests the manner in which coins are transferred from the meter to a collection vehicle;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary cross sectional view of a portion of the meter shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing the manner in which the meter opens and discharges its contents into the conveying mechanism of the vehicle; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a portion of the actuating means for locking and unlocking, and opening and closing the coin chamber.

In FIG. 1 an attendant is shown beside a parking meter being emptied by a conveying mechanism having a fiem'ble hose 12 and a hood 14, which conveys the coins from the meter head 16 to the vehicle 18. The equipment in the vehicle may or may not perform one or more of the common functions or sorting, proving, counting, and wrapping coins. It will be appreciated that if the head 16 of the meter 10 is so constructed that its door Elldfib? Patented Jan. 21, 1954 ice cannot be opened except by means operative only when the hood 14 covers the door, then pilfering or other unauthorized removal of the coins from the meter will be prevented. The meter shown in FIG. 24 is just so constructed.

The meter head 16 contains a coin chamber 20 having an inclined bottom wall 22, rear wall 24, and a door 26 hinged at its top by hinge 28 to the front wall or plate 30 of the chamber. The door 26 is both gravity and spring biased to a closed position. In FIG. 2 a spring 3 2 is shown that extends across the rear of the hinge connection between the door 26 and the frame 36 and the spring exerts an appreciable force on the door urging it closed.

The lower portion 30 of wall 36 beneath the door 26 is provided with a slot 34 sized to receive the latch plate 36 forming part of the locking mechanism for the door. In FIG. 2 the latch plate 36 is shown disposed in the slot 34, i.e. in the locking position. In FIG. 3 the plate 36 is shown in its elevated position on the door 28 wherein it is removed from the slot 34 and does not interfere with opening of the door.

The upper portion 38 of the plate 36 is engaged by a wire 40 secured at its other end to one arm 42 of the bell crank 44. The other arm of the crank 44 is connected to the plunger 46 of solenoid 48. The crank 44 is pivotally carried by pin 50 on the frame 52 of the solenoid 4 8 and pivots counterclockwise as viewed in FIGS. 24 when the solenoid 48 is energized. That is, when the solenoid 48 is energized, its plunger 46 is withdrawn or moved to the left as viewed in those figures and turns the locking crank 44 counterclockwise so as to raise the arm 42, lift the wire 40 and withdraw the latching plate 36 from the slot 34. When the solenoid is deenergized its plunger 46 is released to the influence of spring 70, and the crank 44 is free to turn clockwise and release the wire 40' and allow the plate 36 to move into the slot 34 when the door 26 is in its closed position.

A second bell crank 56 is also pivotally supported by a pin 58 on the frame 52 of the solenoid. The crank 56 has a long lower arm 60 which engages the center of the door 26 of the coin chamber. The other arm 64 of the crank 56 is connected by means of a pin 66 and slot 68 to the plunger 46 of the solenoid. In FIG. 2 the pin 66 is shown disposed at the left end of the slot 68 and the door is closed. Therefore, a lag occurs between actuation or movement of the plunger 46 and actuation of the crank 56. Thus, while the first crank 44 is directly and aflirmatively actuated by movement of the plunger 46, the crank 56 is not so actuated but rather operates only after the plunger has been partially drawn into the solenoid. As a result, the bell crank 44 is actuated to open the look before the crank 56 is actuated to exert an opening force on the door. It will be appreciated that after the plunger has moved a short distance sufficient to withdraw or inactive the lock, counterclockwise rotation of the crank 56 occurs about the pin 58 which causes the long arm 60 to lift the door in the manner suggested in FIG. 3. The arm 69 serves to hold the door 26 open so long as the plunger 46 is drawn into the solenoid. When the solenoid is de-energized, its plunger 46 is placed under the influence of the spring 70 which moves the plunger to the right, allowing the door to close. This action of the plunger also releases the tension applied to the wire 48 so that the plate 36 may lower to the position shown in H6. 2.

It will be noted in FIGS. 2 and 3 that the upper surface of the bottom portion 36' of the wall 36 which contains the slot 34 is inclined rearwardly somewhat to serve as an automatic lifting mechanism for the plate 36 to assure proper closing and locking of the door. The inclined or beveled surface of the wall portion 34) acts as a wedge to lift the plate 36 over the front wall of the 3 slot 5 and thereafter drop the plate 36 into the slot, to form a firm lock.

in FIG. 3 the hood 14 of the conveying mechanism which includes the hose 12 and hood I4 is shown in detail. The hood 14 is shown mounted on the wall 30 of the meter head and completely covers the door 26 of the chamber. Thus, when the hood i4 is in place on the meter head it blocks access to the coin chamber through the door 26. Precise positioning of the hood E4 on the meter head 1.6 may be achieved by specially shaped arms 72 (one shown in FIG. 1) which mate with the post '74 and head of the meter. Gbviously this may be accomplished in several different ways.

The hose 12 is shown in PEG. 3 to include a pair of wires 76 and 7 8 that form a spiral binding about the hose surface and serve as conductors to carry an energizing signal to the solenoid 48. The wire 76 is shown in FIG. 3 to be connected to a contact 8% in the top of the hood 14 which is adapted to electrically engage a second contact 34 mounted on the wall 3% of the meter head when the hood i4 is positioned on the meter. The o her Wire '73 is grounded to the hood body. The contact 84 is connected to a conductor 86 in turn connected to one end of the solenoid coil 43, and the other end of the coil is shown connected to a conductor 88 which is grounded to the plate 39. Therefore, when the hood 14 is disposed on the meter head, the wires '76 and 78 may carry a signal to the solenoid 43. T make it difficult for someone who is unauthorized to energize the solenoid 48 it should be made to operate in response to a voltage and current which is not easy to du licate.

In use the meter may operate as follows: when the coins are to be removed from the coin chamber, the hood 14 or some similar device is mounted on the meter head to make contact with and supply the required preferably unusual signal to the contact 84 on the Wall 3%. Assuming that the signal is present immediately upon contact, the solenoid 43 will energize, first turning the bell crank 44 to release the lock, and then turning the other bell crank 56 to open the door 26. When the door 26 is opened, the coins on the bottom wall 22 of the chamber will slide under the influence of gravity into the hood 14 or similar receptacle for the coins. The moment the hood or simi lar device is removed so as to break contact with the contact 34 on the Wall St) of the meter, the solenoid coil 48 will be de-energized releasing its plunger 46 to the spring 7%) which will release the door 26 and the wire 49 so that the door will close and then latch and prevent unauthorized access to the coin chamber. To enable the door to be opened when the solenoid or other mechanism is inoperative, a special key may be used which fits in the key slot 90 provided at the bottom of the door, which when turned elevates the plate 3:5 and removes it from its .slot 34- in the lower portion 3%) of the wall. This key slot :should be of an unusual variety which is not readily duplicated.

From the foregoing description it will be appreciated that this invention provides a relatively inexpensive, pilfer-proof closure for parking meters. It permits opening of the door of the meter instantaneously and automatically by authorized parties who have the equipment to receive coins from the meter and duplicate the required solenoid signal but otherwise prevents access to the chamber. When the hood 14 is used, even the attendant who picks up coins from the meters does not have an opportunity to handle the coins.

Because modifications of this invention will be obvious in the light of the foregoing description, I do not intend to limit the scope of this invention to the specific embodiment illustrated and described. Rather, it is my intention that the breadth of his invention be determined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is: l. A parking meter comprising a coin chamber,

a door biased to a closed position closing said chamber,

a latch biased to lock said door from the inside of the chamber when said door is closed,

a solenoid disposed in the chamber,

linking means connected between the solenoid and the latch for releasing the latch to unlock the door in response to energization of the solenoid,

and additional linking means connected between the solenoid and the door and operative after release of the latch for opening the door.

2. A parking meter comprising a chamber,

a door biased to a closed position closing said chamber,

a latch biased to lock said door from the inside of the chamber when said door is closed,

a solenoid disposed in the chamber,

means joining the solenoid to the latch causing energization of the solenoid to release the latch.

means operative after release of the latch for opening the door,

a hood for engaging the meter and covering the door,

an electrical contact carried by the hood,

a mating contact on the meter and engaged by the contact on the hood when the hood is mounted on the meter,

and a conductor connected between the solenoid and the contact on the meter.

3. A parking meter as defined in claim 2 further characterized by a hose connected to the hood and adapted to convey coins discharged into the hood to a point of collection,

and means including a signal carrier secured to the hose and contact carried by the hood for energizing the solenoid disposed in the chamber.

4. A parking meter comprising a coin chamber,

a door biased to a closed position for closing said chamber, 7

a latch biased to lock said door from the inside of the chamber when said door is closed,

a solenoid having a plunger disposed in the chamber,

a pair of bell cranks mounted in the chamber and each having one arm connected to the solenoid plunger,

and means connecting the other arms of the bell cranks to the latch and the door causing the latch to unlock the door and the door to open in response to energization of the solenoid.

5. A parking meter as defined in claim 4 further characterized by a hood for engaging the meter and covering the door,

an electrical contact carried by the hood,

a mating contact carried on the meter and engaged by the contact on the hood when the hood is mounted on the meter,

and a conductor connected between the solenoid and the contact on the meter.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Weatherford Apr. 30, 1940 Klemt Mar. 31, 1942 

1. A PARKING METER COMPRISING A COIN CHAMBER, A DOOR BIASED TO A CLOSED POSITION CLOSING SAID CHAMBER, A LATCH BIASED TO LOCK SAID DOOR FROM THE INSIDE OF THE CHAMBER WHEN SAID DOOR IS CLOSED, A SOLENOID DISPOSED IN THE CHAMBER, LINKING MEANS CONNECTED BETWEEN THE SOLENOID AND THE LATCH FOR RELEASING THE LATCH TO UNLOCK THE DOOR IN RESPONSE TO ENERGIZATION OF THE SOLENOID, AND ADDITIONAL LINKING MEANS CONNECTED BETWEEN THE SOLENOID AND THE DOOR AND OPERATIVE AFTER RELEASE OF THE LATCH FOR OPENING THE DOOR. 